Lübeck, Nov. 1, 2014. The big winner at the 56th Nordic Film Days Lübeck was the film “Life in a Fishbowl” (“Vonarstræti”) directed by Iceland’s Baldvin Z. On behalf of the director, the film’s lead actor, a beaming Thorsteinn Bachmann, accepted the NDR Film Prize, which comes with an endowment of € 12,500. Three films from Finland also emerged from the awards gala as winners, joining films from Norway and Sweden in taking home one of the eight prizes. In making its selection, the jury for the NDR Film Prize noted that “The originality and mastery of the cast is what really makes this film stand out. The actors give us an enthralling portrayal of deep humanity in the face of a cold, uncaring society. The dramatic arc of images, with its novelistic quality, charts in an unusual and gripping way a cross-section of lives”.
Movie-goers at the festival voted the audience prize of the Lübecker Nachrichten newspaper (endowed with € 5,000) to the warm-hearted film “HelloHello”, with a very happy star Maria Sid accepting the award on behalf of the director Maria Blom.
The Baltic Film Award for best Nordic feature went to Swedish director Ronnie Sandahl for his debut “Underdog” (“Svenskjævel”) and the director was at the gala ceremony to accept his award. Each year, Lübeck’s trade unions select the winner of the Documentary Film Prize, which is accompanied by € 2,500. This year that went to the Finnish film “Once I Dreamt of Life” (“Näin Unta Elämästä”) by Jukka Kärkkäinen and Sini Liimatainen. Accepting the award was co-producer Dagmar Jacobsen, who thanked the audience. The Interfilm Church Prize, also carrying € 2,500 (endowed by the Lübeck-Lauenburg Lutheran Church) went to the 56th NFL opening film, “1001 Grams” by Bent Hamer, which Pandora Film's distribution arm will release in German theatres on December 18, 2014. The CineStar Prize (€ 3,000) for best short film in the Film Forum section went to German director Paul Spengemann for his film “Blue Beneath” (“Unter uns das Blau”).
In the Children’s and Youth section, the children’s jury, made up of four children between the ages of 11 and 13, decided in favour of the suspenseful adventure film “The Boy with the Golden Pants” (“Pojken med guldbyxorna”), awarding director Ella Lemhagen, represented at the ceremony by actor Jimmy Lindström, € 5,000 in prize money, donated by Lübeck’s own Radisson Blu Senator Hotel. The adult jury awarded its top honour, also endowed with € 5,000, to the Finnish film “The Disciple” (“Oppipoika”). Director Ulrika Bengts expressed enormous pleasure at the award, which is funded by the non-profit foundation arm of Lübeck’s savings banks.
The Nordic Film Days Lübeck is the largest festival in Europe outside Scandinavian devoted to films from the Nordic and Baltic regions, including Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. The 56th NFL closes on Sunday, November 2, 2014, with repeat screenings of competition films, giving audiences a second chance to see films they missed. The screening of the prize-winning film “HelloHello” will include the drawing of the winning name in the competition running in the Lübecker Nachrichten newspaper. Among the other films showing on Sunday are “A Season in Hell”, “Speed Walking”, “On the Edge” and “They Have Escaped”.
Winners and Honourable Mentions:
NDR Film Prize:
LIFE IN A FISHBOWL (VONARSTRÆTI), Dir: Baldvin Z., Iceland
Honourable Mention to:
LETTER TO THE KING (BREV TIL KONGEN), Dir: Hisham Zaman, Norway
THEY HAVE ESCAPED (HE OVAT PAENNEET), Dir: J-P Valkeapää, Finland
Audience Prize of the "Lübecker Nachrichten":
HELLOHELLO (HALLÅHALLÅ), Dir: Maria Blom, Sweden
Baltic Film Prize:
UNDERDOG (SVENSKJÆVEL) Dir: Ronnie Sandahl, Sweden
Interfilm Church Prize:
1001 GRAMS (1001 GRAM), Dir: Bent Hamer, Norway
Documentary Film Prize:
ONCE I DREAMT OF LIFE (NÄIN UNTA ELÄMÄSTÄ)
Dir: Jukka Kärkkäinen / Sini Liimatainen, Finland
Children’s jury prize:
THE BOY WITH THE GOLDEN PANTS (POJKEN MED GULDBYXORNA) Dir: Ella Lemhagen, Sweden
Honourable Mention to:
KICK IT! (KULE KIDZ GRÅTER IKKE), Dir: Katarina Launing, Norway
THE CHRISTMAS OF SOLAN & LUDVIG (SOLAN OG LUDVIG – JUL I FLÅKLYPA),
Dir: Rasmus A. Sivertsen, Norway
Children’s and Youth jury prize:
THE DISCIPLE (OPPIPOIKA), Dir: Ulrika Bengts, Finland
Honourable Mention to:
THE CHRISTMAS OF SOLAN & LUDVIG (SOLAN OG LUDVIG – JUL I FLÅKLYPA),
Dir: Rasmus A. Sivertsen, Norway
CineStar Prize:
BLUE BENEATH (UNTER UNS DAS BLAU), Dir: Paul Spengemann, Germany
Additional information on the prize-winning films and jury statements are available at www.filmtage.luebeck.de
A photo of the 2014 award winners, Copyright: NFL, Malzahn
Press contact:
Press and public relations office
Nordic Film Days Lübeck
Silke Lehmann
Christina Drachsler
Fenja Kahle
Bernadett Skala
Ole Rücker
Schildstr. 12, 23539 Lübeck, Germany
Festival press office till 02.11.: Tel. + 49 451 3080 3931
presse@filmtage.luebeck.de
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